Suggestions for a Cranky Tiel?

**Dally** · 08-24-2010, 06:33 AM

dally and tsuka get along real well all day, sit on bird tree together, can be in same cage for most of the day, and the two play, eat out of different dishes, nap, preen, and everything else all until any time after 6 pm. then dally gets all grouchy and starts getting nippy at me and tsuka and shes even chased him down when he tried to share the millet together. i dont quite understand why, take him out of the cage and put him in his temp cage and shes fine and friendly again. is there any suggestions on what i could try to do?

**kassidyb** · 08-24-2010, 05:57 PM

Maybe if you tried getting another cage to put them in as 'Neutral Territory' so they won't act territorial to eachother. Or you could try changing around their original cage dramatically to make it new to them, so that Dally won't act like she owns it anymore?

Give these a try, but make sure you supervise them for a while. Also make sure that you do the change early in the morning so they have the whole day to work things out, this may also prevent any night-frights that the changes may cause.

**Dally** · 08-24-2010, 06:01 PM

hm.... a whole separate cage is a cost i dont have... i dont want to spend money on one just to turn around and buy a bigger one when they get along. i tried putting them in the others cage for the day... ive tried rearranging it a few times too.

**Cockatiel132** · 08-24-2010, 06:10 PM

Originally Posted by Dally

hm.... a whole separate cage is a cost i dont have... i dont want to spend money on one just to turn around and buy a bigger one when they get along. i tried putting them in the others cage for the day... ive tried rearranging it a few times too.

look a cage up on kijiji or something like that..they have plenty for low prices. you could get a smaller cage, for a very short amount of time just for them getting used to each other. but let him out of the cage quite often if its going to be a smaller cage

**kassidyb** · 08-24-2010, 06:17 PM

^^ Yes, and you could have this for future uses such as vet appointments or emergencies.

**Marrie** · 08-24-2010, 08:11 PM

My tiel gets grumpy if he doesn't nap everyday. But, it sounds like she just isn't into spending all day/night with him. It may be she will never be that bonded to him, if that is the case you'll need to keep them in different cages. I agree with everyone else, try a different cage for him.

You can't force birds to like each other! I mean, would you like it if someone picked your husband and was like "you have to spend 24/7 with him, I don't care if you don't get along"?

You can try to identify what is setting her off. Is it the millet, a perch, a certain toy? Maybe she is territorial about something in the cage. Or, maybe she just likes her alone time. Is the cage big enough that they can get away from each other? Are there multiple food bowls? Is there something she normally does in the evening that she can't do now?

**Dally** · 08-25-2010, 07:18 AM

shes normally more cranky in the evening anyways... im gonna guess its alone time... and he IS in a smaller cage and ive put them in there, she starts getting territorial about that too. she does the bat bird thing more frequently. shes been a little nippy if you reach in the cage while shes eating so i got multiple food bowls to begin with. she did attack him when he went to share the millet with her... i have her cage and his cage but i was hoping they could share his cuz its bigger. but if not, no big deal, when i get the 70 for a new cage, ill get him one. im gonna give them a bit tho to see if i they can work it out... and no i cant force them to get along, i know that. theres room for both in dallys cage but shes kinda territorial about everything. so its likely not going to work out

**jusdeb** · 09-04-2010, 10:59 PM

How old are they ? Could it be a roosting issue ? Are they at breeding age ? Lots of things to consider before spending money . My hand reared pair have bonded but they still go through stages where they will literally pick on each other till there is blood .
Usually just before or just after she is on eggs she gets very nasty . He just has bad days where all he does is chase and annoy her.
Maybe try giving them new roosting areas .

**Dally** · 09-04-2010, 11:17 PM

no cuz now the roosting situation is set, they dont fight over sleeping roosts at all. they have their preferences. shes actually calmed down majorly. she doesnt even flatten her crest at him either. instead now hes starting to nip a bit but theyre getting along good now.... theyre both 6 months old now at this post just bout. out of cage, theyre great, in cage great now, but food bowls can be nippy around and tsuka has a favourite toy (the lava rock cabob) and gets jealous when dally plays with it and chases her from it